Mirror sparks freak South Yorkshire house fire

A FAMILY was left counting the cost after a freak fire which was started by sunlight reflecting off a make-up mirror.

Angie and Sanjay Mascarenhas are still coming to terms with the weird sequence of events that led to flames and smoke filling the front bedroom of their Doncaster home.

Late evening sun shining through the bay window is believed to have reflected off the concave mirror on a bedside cabinet and on to the blinds - slowly causing them to smoulder and ignite.

“I’m just freaked out by it all because it’s such an unusual thing to happen,” said Angie, aged 45.

Fire crews had to smash through the double glazed front door to get into the property on Tuesday evening.

“We’d only been out about 20 minutes but the fire service say it was probably smouldering before we went out. The bedroom door was shut so we hadn’t been aware of anything. They said it could have been burning for an hour-and-a-half,” she said.

A South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue spokesman said fire investigation officers believe the concave mirror magnified the sunlight, igniting a set of nylon blinds, which then fell on to the carpet.